Archives for January 2013

While I ordinarily don’t write about other writers, I’m writing this because I find a recent not-so-subtle shift in position by the Patriot-News’ David Jones to potentially be a harbinger of a broad turn of media sentiments against the NCAA. The resulting pressure could benefit Penn State inasmuch as reducing the draconian penalties imposed last summer might be a face-saving move by Mark Emmert as media criticism mounts against the hypocritical NCAA and its Chief Hypocrite.

Jones hit two major points in an opinion piece published in his blog last Friday. First, morality and “the rules” don’t apply to the machinations of the NCAA and its leader. Second, the whole premise of the NCAA, to promote amateur collegiate athletics and protect participants from rampant commercialism is mere tongue-in-cheek hypocrisy. Hell, the major source of NCAA revenue is the annual basketball tournament. If that isn’t using amateur athletes for profit, what the hell is?

What I’m thinking is that the change in tune for Jones is significant because he was one of those who initially agreed that Penn State President Rod Erickson did the right thing by accepting his punishment and going to bed without dessert, but now he sort of kind of said that was probably necessary at the time maybe because the public sentiment demanded it. However, now that the public sentiment (however that is measured) has seemingly turned against the NCAA, Jones is hopping on that bandwagon. I think it is a good thing. One by one, the detractors are coming back into the fold. Jones’ target shifting from Penn State to the NCAA is a major win for the good guys. ESPN is showing signs of cracking, too.

So, with things heading in the right direction, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s antitrust suit against the NCAA is a stroke of legal and political genius. Way to go, Corbett! Great timing, dude! I believe that the “public sentiment” turning sour on the NCAA will create a favorable climate for moving forward. What fun this will be.

Occasionally, I comment on subjects other than Penn State football and this is one of those times. I am impelled to add my two cents to the now apparently moot debate about the military employing the fairer sex to fulfill combat roles. So, let’s beat that dead horse, shall we?

You’re expecting me to decry this latest hunk of egalitarian crap, aren’t you? If so, I won’t disappoint you. However, I’m not going to walk down the emotional suitability road. I’d get crucified for that. I prefer being drawn and quartered for being what the avant-garde feminists of the 1960s and 1970s coined as a male Chauvinist pig.

“Now look here, Little Missy. Listen up and listen tight!”—John Wayne

This change in policy means that massive accommodations will have to be made, much as they are for handicapped people pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA accommodations merely cost American businesses millions, if not billions of dollars for dubious benefits to a small number of people who could find alternate employment suited to their abilities. (See my lengthy rant in the comments to Friday’s Laser Focus article.) In a similar vein, but much worse in its eventual negative impact, the new policy permitting women to serve in combat can and will cost lives — not just the lives of the valiant women who volunteer for combat duty — and overall, it will compromise military effectiveness.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I respect and admire anyone who is willing to take a bullet for me, regardless of gender. I deeply respect anyone brave enough to volunteer for the front lines, as they are well aware of the potential consequences. Merely wanting it, though, does not make it a good idea. I’m sure that there are bad-ass women — probably many of them — who could kick my ass up and down the block, and after I publish this they’ll probably come looking for me. Moreover, I believe that in some combat roles, piloting fighter aircraft for example, women are fully the equivalent of men, if not better at the necessary eye-hand coordination. (Look at the number of female pistol and rifle competition champs for an indication of those superior abilities.) In ground combat, though, as opposed to the glamour of air combat, muscles replace machinery, and conditions are harsher than most of us can imagine. This isn’t Survivor: Fiji.

For those who are interested, I was swayed to my present position by two opinion pieces, one in a blog and one an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Originally, I was buying the arguments in favor of the new policy. After reading these, I am not. I encourage you to read them whether you agree with my assessment or not. Being a lazy guy, I could make some of the points they make here, but I’ll now cede that territory to them.

While the blog article, written by avowed anti-feminist Doug Giles, wanders off on a facetious rant, the author reels it in at the conclusion, with some very convincing bullet points (no pun intended). The Wall Street Journal article by Ryan Smith, an admittedly male veteran of combat in Iraq, lacks the facetiousness but presents a very graphic view of how abominable combat conditions are in reality as opposed to the stylized, Hollywoodesque view of them that seem to guide important decisions these days.

I can’t go along with political correctness in most situations, but when it can cause considerable harm on balance, I become exceptionally rancorous in denouncing it.

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I’m reviving Laser Focus just for the hell of it on this soporific Friday afternoon. The main topic of today’s diatribe is signs of a cracking and crumbling investigative infrastructure at the NCAA becoming increasingly more evident as that august organization bumbles its way through investigations of member institutions.

Take, for instance, the investigation of the University of Miami, which seemed to be a slam-dunk of a case. Nevin Shapiro, a booster who was convicted of masterminding a Ponzi scheme admitted that he had provided improper benefits to Miami Hurricanes recruits. During the course of the investigation, the NCAA admits that “former NCAA enforcement staff members worked with the criminal defense attorney for Nevin Shapiro to improperly obtain information for the purposes of the NCAA investigation through a bankruptcy proceeding that did not involve the NCAA.”

The investigators employed that expedient because the NCAA doesn’t have subpoena power; thus, they used the bankruptcy proceedings to obtain information to which they otherwise would not have been privy. My, my! The things that lawyers do to get around the law.

Mark Emmert, of course, was quick to throw up a smokescreen. “I have been vocal in the past regarding the need for integrity by NCAA member schools, athletics administrators, coaches and student-athletes,” he said. “That same commitment to integrity applies to all of us in the NCAA national office.”

Say what, Markypoo, you incompetent, hypocritical windbag?!?! You made a statement about integrity when you extorted a consent decree out of Rod Erickson, didn’t you? As we used to say in the Bahamas, da fish stink from da head, mon! Is it any wonder that after watching you operate, your rogue operatives think they have carte blanche to stick their noses into anyone’s business at all? Better get ready to lose Corbett’s anti-trust suit, because the actions of you and your organization make it quite obvious that you’re oblivious!

Here’s a blog post with which I don’t completely agree, but it is fun reading for Penn State homeys. Its author is pretty bent out of shape about the NCAA, and if you’ve read my diatribe thus far, you’re pretty amenable to reading such stuff.

But wait, there’s more! The bungling of the Miami investigation is only one high-profile screw-up by the NCAA. Let’s also consider the case of Abigail Grantstein, yet another NCAA lawyer who screwed up yet another NCAA investigation, in this case at UCLA. A basketball player named Shabazz Muhammad was accused by the NCAA of violating amateurism rules and was threatened with ineligibility. Last August, while the investigation was supposedly being conducted and without a conclusion having been reached, on a flight from Chicago to Memphis a guy who identified himself as the boyfriend of an attorney with the NCAA made it clear that the NCAA was going to find Muhammad ineligible and not allow him to play. This loudmouth also blurted out the name of his girlfriend: Abigail. An attorney on the same flight overheard and emailed Dennis Thomas, a former chairman of the NCAA’s infractions committee, with copies to UCLA and to attorney Robert Orr after learning that he was Muhammad’s personal attorney. In a subsequent interview with the Los Angeles Times, she stated her concern over the lack of confidentiality and the “cavalier discussion of this young man’s future being tossed around for everyone to hear.”

A day after the story was published in The Times last November, the NCAA reinstated Muhammad. In December, sources told The Times that the NCAA had fired Grantstein. Muhammad has become a star, leading the team in scoring and will potentially be a lottery pick in the NBA draft.

Grantstein had been working on other investigations, including that of UCF here in Orlando, and those investigations are in danger of collapsing due to her involvement in them. UCF officials, who met this week with the NCAA in Indianapolis were highly optimistic that the charges would be reduced or dropped completely.

The NCAA has a lot of nerve telling everyone else what to do when it displays its own incompetence and corruption at every turn. Who needs to listen to their hypocritical moralizing.

Physician, heal thyself!

You have to believe that Emmert will react to all the bad press of late. Oh, wait. He did. Here’s his statement:

Media reports yesterday quoting unnamed sources said the inappropriate use of Nevin Shapiro’s attorney to obtain depositions in the Miami case was authorized by the NCAA General Counsel’s office. These reports are not true. In fact, evidence shows the General Counsel’s Office specifically told the enforcement staff — on at least two occasions prior to any arrangements being made with the attorney — that they could not use Shapiro’s attorney for that purpose. As a result, the external investigation is solely focused on the behavior within and the environment of the enforcement program.

Emmert has indeed commissioned an external review of the enforcement program, which we’ll give the moniker “Enforcing the Enforcers.” Kenneth L. Wainstein (no relation to Grantstein, I hope), who is a former Homeland Security Advisor and FBI General Counsel, will conduct the investigation, otherwise known as “Investigating the Investigators.” What a waste of time and manpower! Undoubtedy, Emmert will suppress any negative findings, so what’s the use?

“Upon receipt of Mr. Wainstein’s findings, I will take further steps as needed to assure accountability for any improper conduct,” Emmert said. Yeah, right! He’ll fire some sorry-ass scapegoat to make himself look like the hero, no doubt.

“The NCAA Executive Committee expects the enforcement program to operate within approved procedures and with the highest integrity. Although we are deeply disappointed in this turn of events, we strongly support the actions President Emmert is taking to address the problem,” said Lou Anna K. Simon, executive committee chair and Michigan State University president.

Yeah, but you know that the seeds of destruction have been sown and I think that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s anti-trust suit against the NCAA will be a great fertilizer. Given all the shenanigans in Emmert’s backyard, he really ought to resign before the going gets really, really hot. He’ll wish he never listened to Vicky Triponey by the time the dust settles on this one.

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In related news, “Victim Six” is seeking $75,000 in damages from the Tickle Monster, Second Mile, and Penn State in a lawsuit filed this week. The abuse that triggered the suit occurred in a shower encounter with Sandusky in 1998. Recall that his mother pressed the matter with police, but no charges were ever filed.

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And our final story of the day, courtesy of Joe, is one of meddling by the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. “So what else is new with that?” you ask. No doubt relating to our uber-egalitarian president’s desire for uber-egalitarianism, for leveling the playing field, and to make some people more equal than others, Education officials are pressing for schools to give disabled students “a fair shot” to play on traditional sports teams or have their own leagues.

The schools would have to make “reasonable accommodations” to allow them to play on traditional teams. I want to know how that will work. Football playbooks might have to be rendered in braille for the blind wide receiver, while the armless member of the crew team will require an outboard motor for the racing scull. What we need is more government meddling with their head up their ass, as usual.

“Sports can provide invaluable lessons in discipline, selflessness, passion and courage, and this guidance will help schools ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to benefit from the life lessons they can learn on the playing field or on the court,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement announcing the new guidance Friday.

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The Nittany Turkey is a retired techno-geek who thinks he knows something about Penn State football and everything else in the world. If there's a topic, we have an opinion on it, and you know what "they" say about opinions! Most of what is posted here involves a heavy dose of hip-shooting conjecture, but unlike some other blogs, we don't represent it as fact. Read More…